[Arrowsmith]

Next up, I went to work on the headlamp vacuum manifold system. Previous owner installed the vacuum manifolds with self tapping sheetmetal screws instead of 10-24 machine screws (if you look back, one manifold had fallen off and was held on by the vacuum hoses). Aside from not being right, it could have been a quick way to ruin fiberglass because the pointy end of the screw(s) was right up against the backside of the body. I tried running a tap through the holes in the mount plate, but the tap just rattled around. My fix was to enlarge the mount plate holes slightly and use stainless button head (Phillips or "cross head") AN screws with AN flat washers and nylock nuts to hold the manifolds in place. The button head side faces the fibreglass.





In addition, I installed a new driver's side fresh air vent (mine was beat to crap and was missing the seal) along with adding a couple of 4X6 Kenwood speakers to the dash. I covered the speaker wires in GM harness wrap. The plan is to use an aftermarket radio conversion. I just want to listen to good old-fashioned Rock & Roll ....at least when parked. And yes...I have a new hood release handle to install.